Dmitry Konstantinovich Zelenin (russian: Дми́трий Константи́нович Зеле́нин; November 2, 1878 – August 31, 1954) was a Russian and Soviet
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
Sarapul
Sarapul ( Udmurt and russian: Сара́пул) is a city and a river port in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River, southeast of Izhevsk, the capital of the republic. Population:
History
Sarapul is one of t ...
, where his father was a parish clerk. He attended the Vyatka seminary and the Dorpat University. As of 1915, he read lectures on Slavic dialects at the Petrograd University. He argued that the
East Slavs
The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert H ...
comprise four distinct branches (North Russians, South Russians,
Little Russians
Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру ...
and White Russians) and outlined some subtle differences between East Slavic dialects.
In the early 20th century, Zelenin collected
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
s and
chastushka
Chastushka ( rus, частушка, , tɕɪsˈtuʂkə) is a traditional type of short Russian or Ukrainian humorous folk song with high beat frequency, that consists of one four-lined couplet, full of humor, satire or irony. The term "chastushki" w ...
s in his native region and the Northern Urals. This collection of folk tales was extensively used by his disciple
Vladimir Propp
Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (russian: Владимир Яковлевич Пропп; – 22 August 1970) was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irredu ...
. He was also the first to explore the concept of " unclean dead" in the Slavic folklore.
In 1927,
Max Vasmer
Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (; russian: Максимилиан Романович Фа́смер, translit=Maksimilian Romanovič Fásmer; 28 February 1886 – 30 November 1962) was a Russo-German linguist. He studied problems of etymology in In ...
published Zelenin's magnum opus, ''Russische (Ostslavische) Volkskunde''. It was "the most comprehensive survey of research works and data on East Slavic folk culture" available at the time.
Between 1916 and 1925 Zelenin lived in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.the local university and helping to set up the Museum of the Sloboda Ukraine. In 1925 he joined the staff of the
Leningrad University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
and the Kunstkammer Museum.
In the late 1920s and 1930s Zelenin developed an interest in
Turkology
Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative conte ...
. Every summer he would roam the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...
and Kazakh steppes, collecting materials for his work. In 1936 he managed to publish a pioneering study of Siberian
shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
("The Cult of
Ongon
Ongon (Mongolian; plural ongod) is a type of spirit in the shamanistic belief system of Mongolia. It is a common term in Mongol mythology. After death, all shamans become shamanic souls, ongod. Idols can be consecrated to them within three years ...
s in Siberia").
Zelenin led the European Brigade of the
Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography
The Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography or N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (russian: Институт этнологии и антропологии им. Н.Н. Миклухо-Маклая; abbreviated as ИЭА ...
, which was formed in 1938 to formulate the list of nationalities to be officially recognized by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
Despite his adoption of
Marr
Marr (Scottish Gaelic: ''Màrr'') is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has a population of 34,038 (2001 Census). Someone from Marr is called a ''Màrnach'' in Scottish Gaelic.
Etymology
The genesis of the name ''Marr ...
's theories, Zelenin was attacked by Soviet Marxist ethnologists as a Russian nationalist and racist "in disguise", which made the publication of his new works impossible. His later works are thought to be lost.
In November 2004 the Anthropology Forum of
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
* , Moscow, 1901. ( en, The international language of science and cultural relations)
* , Berlin und Leipzig, de Gruyter, 1927.
* , Leningrad, 1934. ( en, Property Restrictions as Survivals of Primitive Communism)
* , Moscow, 1936. ( en, The Cult of Ongons in Siberia)
** French translation: , Paris : Payot, 1952.